Chapter 47 : Rule – What is Broken (5) B

Boom!

Until just a moment ago, the Aegis Golem 2nd unit, which had been charging at Silverhair with the intent to kill,now, all of those giants knelt before the girl.

The sight looked almost like loyal knights.

“…W-What is going on?”

A stunned sound escaped from Frost’s gaping mouth.

Zeronix, who was beside him, rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Is it a bug?

A system error?

This shouldn’t be happening during a large-scale event.

His mind felt as though it was being consumed by white heat.

“No, wait. Could it be…?”

At that moment, a flash of realization struck Zeronix.

He quickly enlarged Silverhair’s status window.

And there, he noticed a small icon.

[Wearing the Mask of Deception]

“…Hidden Piece? When did she equip this?”

He hadn’t noticed because the Aegis Golem was rampaging,and Silverhair had equipped it so quickly.

Most of all, he was currently in first-person perspective,so he was seeing everything from Silverhair’s point of view.

Even if she wore the mask, there was no way to see any outward change.

“Now that I think about it, those guys were considered NPCs, too.”

Argis Golem.

They weren’t ordinary monsters, but rather treated as special “NPCs.”

This was done to implement invincibility status and maximum attack power.

They were designed as NPCs because it allowed for the system to be implemented without worrying about bugs, unlike monsters.

They didn’t even have a health bar and were impervious to any attacks, thanks to their perfect defense system.

The developers proudly claimed it to be a brilliant design.

But…‘That very point would become the fatal flaw.’

Because they were NPCs, they only responded to specific interactions that applied to NPCs, which was something they hadn’t anticipated.

‘Mask of Deception’

[Wearing it makes you appear like an NPC for a certain period of time.]

…..

[Under certain conditions, ‘Deception’ is triggered: You can deceive hostile NPCs.]

“A reverse tactic… I’ve been outplayed.”

Frost muttered, shaking his head.

The Aegis Golem was originally a neutral NPC guarding the altar.

When you collected materials and handed them over, it was designed to become a friendly NPC.

Normally, a player would have tried to make the golem a friendly NPC.

But Silverhair did the opposite.

The golem’s aggro sensitivity was set extremely low, so it wouldn’t normally attract aggro.

But Silverhair used an unstable magic core bomb on it.

The damage was negligible, but the aggro level spiked insanely.

As a result, the once-neutral Aegis Golem turned hostile towards Silverhair.

And the very moment it became a ‘hostile NPC,’the Hidden Piece ‘Mask of Deception’s’ usage condition perfectly aligned.

Silverhair wore the mask and triggered the ‘Deception.’

The hostile Aegis Golem was perfectly deceived.

“Those golems will probably recognize Silverhair as an NPC.”

The golem’s creator?

Or maybe the altar’s administrator?

It didn’t matter how they saw her.

What mattered was that control of the Aegis Golem had completely passed into Silverhair’s hands.

〈Alright, let’s go.〉

On the screen, Silverhair gave a small wave to the kneeling golems.

It was a gesture as if saying ‘Now, get to work,’ commanding them in such a natural and obvious manner.

The Aegis Golem then rose its massive body and walked toward the giant stone gate of the altar.

As the two massive golems approached, Rydel shivered slightly.

〈Ugh, this is kind of scary.〉

〈No need to worry.〉

Just as Silverhair said, the golems completely ignored Rydel and stood in front of the gate.

Thud-!

The heavy hands of the golems touched the solid stone gate of the altar.

With a deafening noise that seemed to shake the earth, the giant gate began to open.

Normally, you would have to collect 10 items and receive a pass.

That pass would then need to be submitted to the Aegis Golem to open the gate, but…All of that was happening as easily as eating a cupcake.

〈D-Does this really work?〉

Rydel asked with a dazed expression.

Silverhair had bypassed the entire process of obtaining the pass by directly controlling the golems with the Mask of Deception.

〈Well, as long as the result is good, it’s fine.〉

Anyway, as long as the golems move, the result will be the same.

As Silverhair shrugged nonchalantly, the gate was fully opened.

Thud.

The gate was completely open.

What poured out, along with the ancient dust, was a dark and ominous energy, like the depths of an abyss.

But Silverhair walked calmly into the open gate without a care.

Zeronix and Frost could only watch the scene with a look of resignation.

“…Still, the boss will be on a whole different level.”

Frost muttered, trying to remain calm.

“R-right. Inside, the ‘Demon of the Stars’ is sealed.”

[Demon of the Stars – Azranox]

The final boss of this event,and a raid boss designed by the development team with soul-crushing effort.

“At least 10 players in a raid team would need to use every strategy and buff just to find a clue.”

It was an event originally planned on a large scale.

The grand finale of that event.

There was no way it was designed to be cleared by just two people.

“He’s not just strong. He periodically casts widespread fear, curses that drain the player’s maximum health…”

Zeronix bit his lip as he tried to continue.

“But that might not even be enough. Little brother.”

“Huh?”

“Add another pattern right now… the ‘Severe Bleeding’ pattern.”

“B-but that was considered too difficult in the planning stages…”

Severe Bleeding.

The reason it was named “severe” was simple.

The moment you are attacked, you take bleeding damage, just once.

But that’s not all.

The biggest problem is the reduced recovery effect.

A debuff that reduces the amount of healing by 90%.

Naturally, the healing effect also included life steal.

Right now, the sniper patch aimed directly at the Kraken Greatsword that Silverhair had.

It was essentially the same as the Kraken Greatsword’s life steal being reduced by 90%.

“There’s no choice. This event, we need at least a few more hours. Are we just going to end it here so easily?”

“But Azranox is already strong enough, right?”

A monster designed for a 10-player party from the start.

There was no way it could be cleared by just two people.

In fact, if such a powerful patch was added, it might even make it impossible to clear with a 10-person raid later.

“I think clearing it is impossible too… but that person is the exception. With the Kraken Greatsword, maybe it could actually be cleared.”

Clearing it with just two people is impossible.

But, if Silverhair, with overwhelming physical strength, can endure with the life steal effect of the Kraken Greatsword?

An unexpected result might occur.

Silverhair’s skills were beyond conventional limits.

In that case, an unconventional response had to be made as well.

“Got it.”

Frost quickly moved his fingers.

Soon, a hidden pattern was added live.

In an instant, the difficulty increased exponentially.

Now even the Kraken Greatsword’s effect would be greatly reduced.

“Alright. This should do it…”

Zeronix let out a sigh of relief.

Even with the Kraken Greatsword, they wouldn’t be able to handle their rapidly decreasing health.

An overwhelming specification and a relentless barrage of difficult patterns.

And with the addition of severe bleeding, the two of them would likely melt under Azranox’s attacks.

Grrrrrrrk!

In the screen, the darkened space at the center of the altar began to crack.

Like thin glass shattering,The space itself split open, revealing a pitch-black abyss,And a brilliant nebula swirling beyond it.

Kwaaaaahhh—!

The sound of a space tearing apart, like a scream.

Finally, from the torn gap, something began to slowly take shape.

“By the way… that’s some killer production,”

Frost, who had been watching in silence, couldn’t help but admire.

Zeronix also focused on the screen, his eyes shining.

“Wow! The dev team was complaining it was hard, but now I see why!”

Zeronix, having regained his composure, responded with a smile.

Although it was a monster created using basic tools from Pixel Wars,It was clear that the streamer server development team had put in a lot of effort into its quality.

Seeing the Demon of Stars appear with the majestic BGM, Zeronix’s chest swelled with excitement.

After all, such boss monsters shouldn’t be allowed to be defeated too easily.

“…Please remember that I was part of that development team too. I really poured my soul into it.”

Amid the awe of the two, the being on the screen finally revealed its complete form.

Its six wings looked as though they had been cut from the night sky itself,countless stars shimmering within the depths of unknowable darkness.

The tattoos covering its entire body weren’t mere illustrations.

They writhed like living constellations, emitting a chilling light,constantly shifting into incomprehensible geometric forms beyond human reason.

Where its face should’ve been, there were no eyes, nose, or mouth—only a void that absorbed all light.

Just looking at it sent chills down one’s spine,as if one’s mind was unraveling—a boss monster designed in full-on cosmic horror style.

Demon of the Stars – Azranox.

[Guhahahaha…!]

When Azranox opened its mouth,a bizarre laugh echoed through the altar—not from a human voice box,but as if it were resonating from all directions at once.

[How dare… pitiful mortals like you… disturb my slumber?]

Its voice alone distorted the surrounding space,and the floor of the altar vibrated.

Even beyond the screen, the sheer presence of it was overwhelming,causing Zeronix and Frost to momentarily hold their breath.

〈The quality is insane…〉

Rydel, standing nearby, instinctively shrank back and tightened her grip on her sword.

Cold sweat ran down her chin.

She knew it was just a game—but the ominous humming from every direction made it feel like she was truly standing before a demon.

[You… are but specks of dust in this vast universe. I shall erase your existence without a trace!]

With a wicked and majestic declaration, Azranox spread its six wings wide, readying for battle.

Around him, space warped like a black hole, and explosive magical energy overflowed.

Azranox made his entrance with a grand cutscene.

“Ugh, so noisy.”

Next to the tense Rydel, Yoo Seoyeno lazily flicked a finger.

That tiny motion—a gesture full of boredom and annoyance.

Ziiiing—!

The two Aegis Golems, who had just opened the door and were loyally standing guard at the altar’s entrance,their blue eyes lit up once more.

Their aim was precise—locked directly onto Azranox, who had just begun flaunting his universe-ending presence.

Two searing blue beams sliced through space without any interference.

[U-Urrgh?!]

Without even managing a proper death cry,that so-called Demon of the Stars was struck head-on by the lasers and obliterated without a trace.

The six wings that shimmered with starlight, the writhing constellation tattoos,and the arrogance that declared he would erase all existence…

All became nothing more than scraps of data, scattered like dust.

“……”

“……”

A suffocating silence filled the monitoring room.

Just moments ago, Zeronix and Frost had been admiring the majesty of the boss they had created—now they stood frozen, mouths agape, speechless.

And then.

“M-My soul-crushed bossssss…!”

Tears the size of chicken poop rolled down Frost’s cheeks.